Australian 20th Century Timeline

The ‘Australian 20th century’ timeline follows events and developments in Australia from Federation through to the year 2000.

This collection of events provides another means of investigating Australia's past and trying to identify what we mean by 'Our Heritage'.

1900s

The first decade
of this century brought many changes. Federation occurred in 1901
and Australia became a nation. The flag we have today was chosen,
all men and women could vote except for Aboriginal people. The streets
were lit by electricity, surf bathing in the daytime was no longer
considered illegal and Australia won Wimbledon for the first time.

The first lifesaving
club in the world was founded at Bondi Beach in Sydney. Peters Icecream
company began and, appropriately, the automatic totalisator for
betting on horse-races was invented by an Australian.

The 'White
Australia' Policy was established, the Australian Labor Party was
formed, Empire Day was inaugurated and the High Court was set up.
The two-party political system began in Australia. The New South
Wales Aboriginal Protection Board was established and Canberra was
chosen as a site for the federal capital.

Questions
for research and discussion:

Choose
three of the events listed in this decade and write a paragraph
on each event arguing why it should be considered a major influence
on how Australians regard themselves.

What
was the the 'White Australia' Policy? Why did it have an enormous
influence on Australian society and culture?

What
did the 'Protectionists' believe in? What did the 'Free traders'
believe in?

Investigate
one of the ship wrecks of this decade.

Why
do Australians celebrate Australia Day on 25 January? Why don't
they celebrate 'Federation Day' - the day Australia became a
nation on 1 January 1901?

An
outbreak of bubonic plague in Sydney's Rocks area leads to a
massive clean-up.

First
discovery of natural gas in Australia.

Soldiers
from the Australian states depart for China's Boxer War.

Lord
Hopetoun arrives in Sydney (19 December) and invites NSW Premier
Sir William Lyne to form a federal ministry, but Lyne, an anti-federalist,
is unable to gain support. 24 December, Edmund Barton is commissioned.

Intercolonial
conference held at the Sydney Trades Hall to consider forming
a Federal Labour Party.

Whaling
operations from Hobart end.

Detachments
of Citizen's Bushmen's Corps from New South Wales and South
Australia leave for South Africa to fight in the Anglo-Boer
War. (Detachments from Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia
leave during March).

SS
'Glenelg' wrecked off Victorian coast; 31 lives lost.

Contingents
of Imperial Bushmen begin leaving for South Africa.

Commonwealth
of Australia Constitution Act passed by the British Parliament,
receives Royal assent.

The
Commonwealth of Australia is proclaimed at a ceremony in Centennial
Park, Sydney. Lord Hopetoun assumes office as Governor-General,
and Prime Minister Edmund Barton and his cabinet ministers (Executive
Council) are sworn in.

Baldwin
Spencer and F J Gillen make a year-long investigation of the
Aborigines of northern Central Australia.

Presbyterian
Church of Australia formed out of the federal union of state
churches.

Australian
flag chosen by competition from 30,000 designs displayed at
the Exhibition Building in Melbourne.

Federal
parliamentary Labour Party formed, with J C Watson as leader.
(Spelling changed to Labor Party in 1918).

Duke
of Cornwall and York (later King George V) opens the first Commonwealth
Parliament in Exhibition Building, Melbourne.

Parliament
then meets in the Victorian Legislative Assembly building (and
continues to do so until 1927)..

Federal
Parliament legislates to end recruitment of Kanakas (Pacific
Islanders) by 31 March, 1904 and to deport any found in Australia
after 1906.

'Ping
Pong' (table tennis) becomes very popular in Australia.

Books
published this year:
Miles Franklin, 'My Brilliant Career'
Henry Lawson, 'Joe Wilson and his Mates'
John Quick and Robert Garran, 'Annotated Constitution of the
Australian Commonwealth' .

The
first battalion of Commonwealth troops (wearing the forerunner
of the 'rising sun' badge) embark for South Africa. Lieutenant
Harry 'Breaker' Morant and Lieutenant P J Handcock executed
by firing squad outside Pretoria in the Transvaal, for shooting
Boer prisoners.

The
drought begins to break after eight terrible years.

W
H Gocher, owner and editor of a Manly (New South Wales) newspaper,
breaks the law forbidding sea bathing between 6 am and 8 pm
by entering the water at noon.

Five
miners die in a mineshaft fall at the Great Boulder gold mine,
East Coolgardie, Western Australia.

Sydney
streets are lit by electricity when the Pyrmont Power Station
is officially switched on.

SS
'Nemesis' founders off the coast of New South Wales during a
storm, with the loss of all 21 aboard.

P&O
liner 'Australia' runs aground on a reef at the entrance to
Port Phillip. No lives are lost but ship is a total lossa.

The
Commonwealth Defence Act (1903) comes into force, providing
for conscription of men between 18 and 60 in time of war for
service within the Commonwealth or territory controlled by the
Commonwealth.

Unregistered
bookmaker Donald McLeod unable to meet his financial commitments,
is killed by an angry mob at Flemington.

Methodist
minister Henry Worrall is summoned before the Bar of the Victorian
Legislative Assembly for impeaching the Chief Secretary (accusing
him of being responsible for McLeod's death by not legislating
to stop gambling).

More
than 4 million Australian possum skins are marketed in London
and New York.

Western
Australian Parliament proposes holding a referendum to withdraw
from the Commonwealth. (No action is taken until 1933).

South
African Preference Act introduces the first Commonwealth preferential
tariff.

Free
Education Act assented to in New South Wales making primary
education free in the state.

Issac
Isaacs and H B Higgins are sworn in as Justices of the High
Court.

Australia
assumes responsibility for the administration of British New
Guinea, renaming it Papua (by the Papua Act of 1905).

1910s

It was a time
of change. The Australian population at the beginning of the decade
was over 4 million but was sadly depleted by the end of the decade
by the Great War. The Aboriginal population had already been reduced,
but those left were still not counted in the census.

The first Commonwealth
silver coins, the first Commonwealth treasury bank notes and the
first Commonwealth postage stamps were all issued.

The first Australian
plane was built, the Mitchell Library opened in Sydney and the Australian
capital was named Canberra.

The first world
war broke out and 25 April, Anzac Day, became part of Australian
history. Conscription was rejected twice and the RSL was formed.

It was the
time of Douglas Mawson and May Gibbs. It was the time of the picture-show
men as Australians wanted to be entertained and informed about the
world outside their shores.

Films were
made, stores were opened, heroes were created and Australians felt
their country was progressing.

Questions
for research and discussion:

Choose
two individuals mentioned in this decade - go to the 'People'
section of this disc for more information about them and look
in your local or school library. How might the people you have
chosen have been a major influence on how Australians regard
themselves?

Investigate
the two conscription debates of 1916 and 1917. Look at the arguments
for and against. How would you have voted? Why?

Try
writing a letter to the editor of one of the newspapers of that
time outlining your argument?

The
Commonwealth Government was given control of the Australian
Capital Territory.

The
Commonwealth formally takes over from South Australia the administration
of the Northern Territory. (The town of Palmerston is renamed
Darwin).

Legislation
is introduced for the compulsory military training of all males
aged from 12 to 25.

A
Military College is founded at Duntroon, ACT.

The
first British boy settlers under the 'Dreadnought' scheme arrive
in Australia.

The
passenger steamer 'Yongala' founders in a cyclone off Cape Bowling
Green, Queensland, with the loss of 120. (The wreck is discovered
in 1958).

The
University of Western Australia is established by an Act of
Parliament.

A
cyclone severely damages Cairns, Innisfail and Port Douglas.
Two people are killed.

Enrolment
for federal elections is made compulsory.

SS
'Macleay' founders near Port Stephens, New South Wales. 15 lives
are lost and 2 saved.

Lord
Denman becomes Governor-General.

6
o'clock closing for hotels is enforced.(It is not introduced
in South Australia until 1915).

'Land'
newspaper launched by the New South Wales Farmers' and Settlers'
Association.

Uniform
penny postage comes into operation.

Sidney
Myer opens a drapery business in Bourke Street, Melbourne.

The
first national census was conducted. There were 4,455,000 persons
in Australia.

Lady
Denman, wife of the Governor-General, names the federal capital
'Canberra' at the official ceremony to mark the start of building.

Referendums
on proposals to give the Commonwealth power to legislate on
trade and commerce corporations, industrial matters, trusts,
nationalisation of monopolies, and railway disputes are all
rejected.

1920s

The nation
building of the 1920s continued with the formation of QANTAS (Queensland
and Northern Territory Aerial Services), the growth of the commercial
food supply, C E W Bean's official history of the 1914-18 war and
the opening of palatial cinemas in the capital cities.

Australia became
a member of the League of Nations, the Country Party and the Communist
Party were formed and the first woman was elected to an Australian
Parliament.

Compulsory
school attendance was introduced but not for Aboriginal children
who were encouraged to assimilate into the white culture but were
not given rights.

The Archibald
Prize was awarded for the first time; the 'Road to Gundagai' hit
the top ten (or would have if there had been one!); and Kelloggs
Cornflakes, Cadbury's chocolate and Vegemite were fast becoming
part of the national diet.

Questions
for research and discussion:

Investigate
the history of one of the 'new' Australian foods that were invented
during the 1920s.

In
1923 the Postmaster-General approved a sealed-set broadcasting
system. The radio was tuned only to the station that the buyer
subscribed to. Can you find out what each of the initials of
the AM radio stations stand for? For example: 2 BL stands for
'Broadcasting Limited'.

Walter
Burley Griffin's appointment as designer of Canberra is not
renewed.

Commonwealth
Institute of Science and Industry (predecessor of the CSIRO)
established by an Act of Parliament.

Hubert
Opperman becomes Australian road cycling champion and wins a
series of road events in Europe.

W
B McInnes wins the Archibald Prize for the fourth consecutive
time.

Dame
Nellie Melba gives her first 'farewell performance' in Australia
in La Boheme at His Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne on 13 October.
It is broadcast over the new station 3LO.

The
export of Australian sugar begins.

May
Holman wins a by-election for the state seat of Forrest, WA,
and becomes the first Labor woman to sit in an Australian parliament.

Lord
Stonehaven becomes Governor-General.

An
ancient Aboriginal skull is discovered at Cohuna, Victoria.

A
H Apperoth and Albert Lenertz found the Clarence Manufacturing
Co (later Traders Ltd) in Sydney to make Aeroplane Jelly.

The
Australian War Memorial is founded in Canberra. The building
is not completed and open to the public until 1941.

A
banked concrete motor speedway opens at Maroubra, Sydney. It
is demolished in 1934.

Windbag
wins the Melbourne Cup, which is broadcast on radio for the
first time.

The
'Australian Encyclopaedia' in 2 volumes is published.

Henry
Handel Richardson's 'The Way Home', the second volume of 'The
Fortunes of Richard Mahoney' is published.

At
Imperial Conference, Balfour Committee declares that the United
Kingdom and Dominions are autonomous members of the British
Commonwealth of Nations.

SS
'Dorrigo' sinks off Double Island Point, Queensland with 22
lives lost. The Captain and his son are rescued after 34 hours
on a raft.

The
Development and Migration Commission is established.

New
South Wales' first electric train service begins between Sydney's
Central Station and Oatley.

The
Commonwealth Crimes Act is amended to give the government power
to deal with Communists and political agitators.

The
eggs of the caterpiller 'Cactoblastis cactorum' is released
in Queensland and New South Wales to control the prickly pear.

Anna
Pavlova tours Australia with a company of dancers.

The
St James Theatre opens in Sydney. It later becomes a cinema
and is demolished in 1971.

Hoyts
Theatres cinema chain is formed with F W Thring as managing
director.

A
newspaper tax of one halfpenny a copy is imposed by the Lang
government in New South Wales. It is declared invalid by the
High Court.

The
Sydney Mint closes.

An
ACT Police Force is established.

Commonwealth
Parliament begins sitting in Canberra for the first time.

An
All-Australian Trade Union Congress in Melbourne forms the All-Australian
(later Australian) Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), to act as
a federal executive for the trade union movement. State Labor
Councils are reorganised as branches of the ACTU.

Margaret
Preston draws attention to Aboriginal art in an article in 'Art
in Australia'.

1930s

The 1930s were
turbulent times -- the decade began with a depression and ended
with a war.

National heroes
such as Bradman and Phar Lap became Australian legends. The dog
sat on the tucker box, the `coathanger' harbour bridge joined the
north and south of Sydney and Cinesound filmed it all.

The cane toad
was introduced into Queensland, the first milkbar in the world opened
in Sydney and, just for fun, you could visit Luna Park or listen
to 'Dad and Dave' on the radio.

In 1938, the
sesquicentenary of the landing of Arthur Phillip was celebrated
while the protests of the Aboriginal people were largely ignored.
When war was declared in 1939, Australia went willingly to Britain's
aid. Australia still looked to the Empire.

Questions
for research and discussion:

What
was the `bodyline' controversy? There will also be many books
in the library on this.

Did
you know that in 1992 the State Library of New South Wales bought
some letters written by a member of the English Cricket team
talking about the Test series? Why are letters by people who
were there at the time important to historians?

In
1931 the 'All for Australia League' was formed. Can you find
out what this League believed it was fighting for?

Who
was Premier of New South Wales in 1931?
Find out more about this person?

How
many years are there before a 'Sesquicentenary' celebration
can be held? Find out about the 1938 sesquicentenary celebrations.

The
Great Depression is felt by many right across Australia.

State
governments pay a 'dole' to the deserving poor and issue sustenance
rations free of charge.

Joseph
Lyons and others leave Labor Party and join with Liberals to
form United Australia Party (UAP).

The
'All for Australia League' is launched at a meeting in Sydney.

All
wages controlled by the Commonwealth Arbitration Court are reduced
by 10%.

The
'Daily Guardian', a Sydney newspaper, is incorporated into the
Daily Telegraph.

Sir
Douglas Mawson takes possession of MacRobertson Land, Antarctica.

Holden's
Motor Body Builders merges with the United States firm General
Motors to form General Motors-Holden Ltd.

Burn's
Philp ship 'Malabar' is wrecked at Long Bay, Sydney.

The
Government Savings Bank of NSW ceases operations following heavy
withdrawals by depositors fearing reduction of interest or repudiation.
It is absorbed by the Commonwealth Savings Bank in December.

The
first experimental Australia to England airmail flight leaves
Melbourne.

The
Federal government begins legal action in the High Court to
recover money due from New SouthWales for interest payments
paid by the Loan Council on New SouthWales' behalf.

Arthur
Carrington Smith develops a system of recording sound on film
which is subsequently used by Cinesound Productions.

New
South Wales' Premier Jack Lang chooses not to pay interest payments
on overseas loans and is dismissed by the N.S.W. Governor, Sir
Philip Game.

The
'Dog on the Tuckerbox' pioneer memorial is unveiled by Prime
Minister J A Lyons.

E
G Theodore and Frank Packer form Sydney Newspapers Ltd and take
over the Sydney evening daily 'The World'.

The
Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) is established.

Cinesound
Productions Ltd. is formed.

Racehorse
Phar Lap dies in California.

At
the Los Angeles Olympics, Clare Dennis wins the 200 metres breaststroke,
a world record. Bobby Pearce wins the single sculls for the
second time, and E L (Duncan) Gray wins the 1000 metres cycling
time trial.

Peter
Pan wins the Melbourne Cup.

Stan
McCabe scores 187 not out in the First Test of the 'Bodyline'
series.

The
Bodyline controversy comes to a head in the Third Test in Adelaide.
MCC team wins the series.

Francois
Sicard's Archibald Memorial fountain in Sydney's Hyde Park is
completed and handed over to the citizens of Sydney.

A
B Paterson's 'The Animals Noah Forgot' is published.

Dorothy
Wall writes 'Blinky Bill'.

Aboriginal
population is at its lowest - an estimated 67,000.

Joseph
Lyons and Earle Page form a United Australia/Country Party Coalition
Cabinet.

Czech
journalist Egon Kisch jumps off the 'Strathaird' in Melbourne
after being refused admission. He is taken back on board with
broken leg. Kisch is given a dictation test in Gaelic and jailed
as a prohibited immigrant. The conviction is quashed on grounds
that Gaelic is not a European language. Kisch stays in Australia
until March 1935.

There
are record floods in the Yarra, eastern Port Phillip streams,
and central and south Gippsland; 35 lives are lost.

SS
'Coramba' is wrecked on Seal Rocks, New South Wales; all 17
hands are lost.

Aircraft
'Stella Australis' is lost off Hawaii on a flight from USA to
Australia. Australian pioneer aviator Charles Ulm is one of
three crew killed.

An
inaugural flight of QEA-Imperial Airways airmail service between
Australia and England leaves Brisbane.

Hollow
plywood surfboards begin to displace solid wooden boards.

An
English women's cricket team captained by Betty Archdale visits
Australia for a series of matches in which they are unbeaten.

Peter
Pan wins the Melbourne Cup for the second time.

Christina
Stead's 'The Salzburg Tales' and 'Seven Poor Men of Sydney'
are published.

P
L Travers writes 'Mary Poppins'.

On
an airmail flight to New Zealand, the 'Southern Cross' piloted
by Kingsford Smith develops engine trouble and P G Taylor climbs
out under the wing to transfer oil from one engine to the other.
He is awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal (later the George Cross)
for this act.

Australian
Associated Press (AAP) established by newspaper proprietors
as a cooperative body to collect world news.

Goldsbrough
Mort's nine-storey wool store in Pyrmont, Sydney, is burnt out
with the loss of 30,000 bales of wool.

J
H Scullin resigns as federal Labor leader and is succeeded by
John Curtin.

Sir
John Latham succeeds Sir Frank Gavan Duffy as Chief Justice
of the High Court.

BHP
and Australian Iron and Steel merge to become an industrial
monopoly.

Australian
Consolidated Press Ltd is formed by the merger of Associated
Newspapers and Sydney Newspapers, bringing together the 'Daily
Telegraph' and the 'Australian Women's Weekly'.

A
recently captured shark on exhibition at Coogee Aquarium in
Sydney disgorges the arm of a man. The arm, identified by tattoos,
is found to be that of missing ex-boxer James Smith. A criminal
associate suspected of murdering Smith implicates Smith's former
employer, Reginald Holmes. Holmes is shot dead the day before
Smith's inquest. Neither murder is ever solved.

Reginald
Ansett begins operating Ansett Airways.

Charles
Moses becomes general manager of the ABC until 1965.

Sir
Charles Kingsford Smith, on a flight from England to Australia
in the 'Lady Southern Cross' disappears in the Bay of Bengal.

Luna
Park opens in Sydney.

The
Cane toad is introduced into Queensland.

R
G Whitehead develops Tarzan's Grip glue.

Herbert
Sachse of the Perth Esplanade Hotel creates the pavlova. It
has since become a 'national dessert' for many Australians.

Patrick
White's 'The Ploughman and Other Poems' is published.

Filmmaker
Charles Chauvel directs 'Heritage'.

Lord
Gowrie becomes Governor-General.

A
service pension is brought in for ex-servicemen at age 60 or
if permanently unemployable.

Japan
retaliates by banning imports of Australian wool, wheat and
flour.

In
response to Australia's trade diversion policy, America withdraws
Australia's most favoured nation concessions. They are restored
in February 1938.

Ampol
Petroleum Ltd established.

Mrs
Mary Freer, a British subject travelling to Australia, is given
a dictation test in Italian to prevent her admission. The case
attracts much attention. After a High Court challenge, Mrs Freer
is allowed to enter Australia.

The
'Catholic Worker' edited by B A Santamaria, begins publication
in Melbourne.

The
Sir John Sulman Art Prize is awarded for the first time to Henry
Hanke.

Robert
G. Menzies becomes Prime minister and accepts Britain's declaration
of war on Germany as binding on Australia.

Menzies
forms a war cabinet meeting and announces that a volunteer division
would be formed for service at home or abroad.

The
Commonwealth basic wage is 3 pounds, 18 shillings.

An
Empire Air Training Scheme is inaugurated.

The
reintroduction of compulsory service in the militia is announced.
Unmarried men aged 21 were to undergo three months training.

The
Defence Act is extended to cover Papua and New Guinea as territories
to which conscripts could be sent.

A
national register of manpower is taken.

Waterside
workers at Port Kembla, under government pressure, agree to
load pig-iron for Japan.

The
'Sunday Telegraph' newspaper begins publication in Sydney.

The
temperature in Adelaide reaches 117.7F (47.6C) which is the
highest recorded in an Australian capital city.

'Black
Friday' in Victoria - the culmination of days of disastrous
bushfires. 71 lives are lost and more than a thousand houses
and millions of hectares of forest are destroyed. The temperature
in Melbourne reaches 114.1 F (45.6 C).

There
are bushfires in many parts of NSW; eight lives are lost. The
temperature in Sydney reaches 113.6F (45.3C).

Ready
Mixed Concrete Company, the first of its kind in the world,
is formed in Sydney.

Sliced
bread is introduced to Australia by Sunshine Bakeries, of Newtown,
Sydney.

Lux
Radio Theatre is launched.

Australian
tennis players John Bromwich and Adrian Quist win the Davis
Cup for the first time. It had previously won by Australasia
(Australia and New Zealand).

Golfer
Jim Ferrier wins both the Australian Open and the Australian
Amateur golf championships for the second year running.

Kenneth
Slessor's poem 'Five Bells' is published.

The
Contemporary Art Society holds its first exhibition which includes
the early works of Nolan, Drysdale and Tucker.

1940s

The decade
of the Forties was clouded by war and had an impact of everything
and everyone. The course of world history was changed forever. Australia's
future would also be different, as there was a shifting of alliance
from Britain to the United States.

The American
influence on Australians was further enhanced by the presence of
American servicemen on leave. Women were seen in a different light
when the Australian Women's Land Army was established. By the end
of the decade the vote was extended to Aboriginal ex-servicemen.

A massive immigration
program commenced, the Snowy Mountains Scheme began and the Holden
became Australia's very own car.

Robert Menzies
reformed the UAP and the party altered its name to the Liberal Party.
For the next 16 years, Menzies dominated Australia's political stage.

Questions
for research and discussion:

What
made this decade particularly memorable for many Australians?

Choose
two events from this decade that you think have influenced the
Australian outlook. Why do you think they are important?

How
did Australian involvement in the second world war change Anzac
Day and the RSL?

Severe
drought conditions over most of the country.

The
prison ship 'Dunera' arrives in Sydney with over 2,000 German
and Austrian internees from Britain.

An
election for the House of Representatives and half Senate is
held. The Menzies Government remains in office with the support
of two independents. New members include Arthur A Calwell and
Herbert V Evatt.

Petrol
rationing begins.

A
G Cameron resigns as Country Party leader; A W Fadden becomes
acting leader.

An
Advisory War Council is formed, with Labor Party participation.

Coalminers
go on strike for better wages, conditions and hours.

Country
Party members are included in Federal Cabinet once again.

Australia
declares war on Italy, following Italy's declaration of war
against Britain and France.

The
Communist Party and Fascist parties in Australia are declared
illegal under the National Security Act.

Call-up
is extended to age 33 for single men.

Essington
Lewis is appointed Director-General of Munitions.

Editions
of nine newspapers are banned for refusing to abide by censorship
regulations.

Sir
Keith Murdoch is appointed Director-General of the newly formed
Department of Information.

The
Commonwealth Government is given increased powers to control
Australia's resources, production, manpower, and people.

The
ABC appoints its first female announcer (Margaret Doyle).

War
Savings Certificates go on sale.

The
last cable tram runs in Melbourne.

Old
Rowley wins the Melbourne Cup.

Australian
forces are engaged in North Africa, Greece, Crete and Syria.

Singapore
falls to the Japanese; more than 15,000 Australians, mainly
of the 8th Division, are imprisoned; General Gordon Bennett
escapes.

Curtin
cables London demanding the return of the AIF 6th and 7th Divisions
from the Middle East to Australia. Federal Cabinet orders the
complete mobilisation of Australia's human and material resources.

Darwin
is bombed by a japanese force. It is the first of more than
60 air attacks. Eight ships are sunk in the harbour and some
240 people are killed.

The
main Australian force on Timor surrenders to the Japanese.

Cruiser
HMAS 'Perth' is sunk in the Sunda Strait; 357 lives are lost
and 106 survivors later die in prison camps.

Japanese
aircraft attack Broome, Western Australia, destroying several
flying-boats and other aircraft and causing some 70 deaths.
Wyndham is also attacked.

Sixteen
members of the Australia First movement are arrested in Sydney
and imprisoned without trial. P R Stephensen is held until September
1945.

Registration
of all persons over 16 is required and the carrying of identity
cards is made compulsory.

General
Douglas MacArthur arrives in Australia from the Philippines.

Sydney
receives its first shipload of 8,398 United States servicemen.

The
northern part of the Northern Territory is placed under military
control.

The
Destroyer HMAS 'Vampire' is sunk off Ceylon.

MacArthur
takes up his post as Supreme Commander, South-West Pacific Area,
with his headquarters in Melbourne.

General
Sir Thomas Blamey in placed in command of Allied land forces.

The
Battle of the Coral Sea forces a Japanese invasion fleet to
turn back and abandon its attempt to capture Port Moresby.

Three
Japanese midget submarines enter Sydney Harbour; one is sunk
by depth charges; one tangles in boom nets and is blown up by
its crew. The third apparently escapes after torpedoing a naval
depot ship (the ferry 'Kuttabul'). It sinks with the loss of
19 lives.

SS
'Iron Chieftain' is torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine
off Sydney with the loss of 12 lives. Next day, SS 'Iron Crown'
is torpedoed and sunk near Gabo Island, 37 lives are lost.

The
film 'Kokoda Front Line', a Cinesound Review documentary with
cinematography by Damien Parer wins Australia's first US Academy
Award.

Singapore
falls to the Japanese; more than 15,000 Australians, mainly
of the 8th Division, are imprisoned; General Gordon Bennett
escapes.

Curtin
cables London demanding the return of the AIF 6th and 7th Divisions
from the Middle East to Australia. Federal Cabinet orders the
complete mobilisation of Australia's human and material resources.

Darwin
is bombed by a japanese force. It is the first of more than
60 air attacks. Eight ships are sunk in the harbour and some
240 people are killed.

The
main Australian force on Timor surrenders to the Japanese.

Cruiser
HMAS 'Perth' is sunk in the Sunda Strait; 357 lives are lost
and 106 survivors later die in prison camps.

Japanese
aircraft attack Broome, Western Australia, destroying several
flying-boats and other aircraft and causing some 70 deaths.
Wyndham is also attacked.

Sixteen
members of the Australia First movement are arrested in Sydney
and imprisoned without trial. P R Stephensen is held until September
1945.

Registration
of all persons over 16 is required and the carrying of identity
cards is made compulsory.

General
Douglas MacArthur arrives in Australia from the Philippines.

Sydney
receives its first shipload of 8,398 United States servicemen.

The
northern part of the Northern Territory is placed under military
control.

The
Destroyer HMAS 'Vampire' is sunk off Ceylon.

MacArthur
takes up his post as Supreme Commander, South-West Pacific Area,
with his headquarters in Melbourne.

General
Sir Thomas Blamey in placed in command of Allied land forces.

The
Battle of the Coral Sea forces a Japanese invasion fleet to
turn back and abandon its attempt to capture Port Moresby.

Three
Japanese midget submarines enter Sydney Harbour; one is sunk
by depth charges; one tangles in boom nets and is blown up by
its crew. The third apparently escapes after torpedoing a naval
depot ship (the ferry 'Kuttabul'). It sinks with the loss of
19 lives.

SS
'Iron Chieftain' is torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine
off Sydney with the loss of 12 lives. Next day, SS 'Iron Crown'
is torpedoed and sunk near Gabo Island, 37 lives are lost.

The
film 'Kokoda Front Line', a Cinesound Review documentary with
cinematography by Damien Parer wins Australia's first US Academy
Award.

The
Australia-New Zealand Agreement (Anzac Pact) is signed in Canberra.

The
Commonwealth basic wage is 4 pounds,16 shillings.

Reginald
Saunders becomes the first Aboriginal officer in the Australian
army.

Free
public hospital service begins in Queensland.

The
Liberal Party is formed.

Kosciusko
State (later National) Park is established.

PAYE
(Pay As You Earn) tax is introduced.

Fred
Paterson, the only Communist to be elected to an Australian
parliament, wins the seat of Bowen in the Queensland state election.

News
appears on the front page of the 'Sydney Morning Herald' for
the first time (in place of advertisements).

Editions
od all Sydney daily newspapers (and the Melbourne Herald and
Adelaide News) are suppressed by the censor for defying censorship
regulations. Censorship is relaxed on 19 May after a High Court
injunction and a conference of the parties.

Meat
rationing begins.

The
Kempsey mail train strikes a bus at a level crossing near the
Hawkesbury River, New South Wales: 17 are killed.

Japanese
prisoners of war at Cowra, New South Wales stage a mass escape
attempt. 234 prisoners and 4 guards are killed.

Aerograms
are first issued in Australia.

Sydney
waiter Antonio Agostini who was charged with the murder in 1934
of his wife Linda, the 'pyjama girl' is tried in June and sentenced
to six years jail for manslaughter. He is deported to Italy
in 1949.

Cruising
Yacht Club of Australia is formed in Sydney.

Sirius
wins the Melbourne Cup.

Gwen
Meredith's radio serial 'The Lawsons' (later called 'Blue Hills')
begins its 32 year run on ABC radio.

Filmmaker
Charles Chauvel makes 'The Rats of Tobruk'.

The
literary magazine 'Angry Penguins' publishes the Ern Malley
hoax poems. (James McAuley and Harold Stewart later reveal their
responsibility for the joke).

The
Duke of Gloucester replaces Lord Gowrie as Governor-General.

The
UAP officially changes its name to the Liberal Party of Australia.

Herbert
V Evatt and F M Forde represent Australia at the 50-nation United
Nations Conference on International Organisation in San Francisco.

Prime
Minister John Curtin dies suddenly. F M Forde is sworn in the
next day as Prime Minister. J B Chifley is elected leader of
the Labor Party and replaces Forde as Prime Minister eight days
later.

Department
of Immigration created, with A A Calwell as minister.

Atomic
bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

VJ
Day - Japan surrenders, ending the war in the Pacific.

General
MacArthur accepts the Japanese surrender on board USS 'Missouri'
in Tokyo Bay with Australian representatives in attendance.

Australian
casualties in World War II: 33,826 killed, 180,864 wounded.

ALP
Industrial Groups are formed in New South Wales to counter what
they believe is Communist influence in trade unions.

Commonwealth
unemployment and sickness benefits are introduced.

The
lowest temperature ever recorded in Australia is 8F (-22C)
at Charlotte Pass, Mount Kosciusko, on 14 July. This temperature
is again recorded on 22 August 1947.

Howard
Florey shares the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work in developing
penicillin.

Alcoholics
Anonymous is established in Australia.

The
National Trust of Australia is formed in New South Wales to
protect heritage sites.

A
'magic eye' camera is first tested at the Canterbury Racecourse
in Sydney.

The
racehorse Bernborough wins the Villiers Stakes, the first of
15 successive race wins.

Rainbird
wins the Melbourne Cup.

The
Sydney-Hobart yacht race is held for the first time. The winner
is 'Rani'.

Australia
and United Kingdom sign the assisted passage immigration scheme.

British
Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF), under an Australian commander-in-chief
begins duty in Japan. The first Australian commander-in-chief
is Lieutenant-General John Northcott.

Archbishop
Gilroy of Sydney becomes the first Australian-born cardinal.

The
Australian Council of the World Council of Churches is formed.

Federal
government approves a proposal to set up a guided-missile range
in Australia as a joint venture with the United Kingdom.

Wool
auctions resume in Sydney, after seven years of government purchase
of the whole clip. Prices rise significantly.

Trans-Australia
Airlines (TAA) begins operations with a daily service between
Melbourne and Sydney.

Aboriginal
people in the Pilbara region of Western Australia form cooperative
settlements.

Lance
Hill of Adelaide begins producing the Hills Hoist rotary clothesline
which was to become an Australian sunburban icon.

Broadcasts
of the proceedings of Federal Parliament begin.

The
Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) begins.

Martin
Boyd's 'Lucinda Brayford' is published.

Judith
Wright's 'The Moving Image' is published.

Sidney
Nolan begins the first of his Ned Kelly series of paintings.

The
Assisted migration scheme is reintroduced for British migrants
to Australia, with free passages for ex-servicemen.

Immigration
Minister A A Calwell signs an agreement with the International
Refugee Organisation for Australia to accept displaced person
from Europe. The first batch arrive in November. They are mainly
Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians.

Sir
William McKell becomes Governor-General.

Aerial
crop spraying is first used in Australia, near Narrabri, New
South Wales.

The
ABC begins an independent radio news service.

The
Northern Territory is granted a Legislative Council, comprising
the Administrator, seven official members and six elected members.

Australia
joins the International Monetary Fund and the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank).

During
the year the 100,000th British migrant and the 50,000th European
displaced person since the end of the war arrive in Australia.

A
A Calwell calls for the use of the term 'New Australian' for
migrants.

The
High Court rules that Mrs O'Keefe, an Indonesian married to
an Australian and her eight children should not be deported.

Federal
franchise is extended to certain Aborigines: (a) those entitled
to vote in their own state; (b) members or former members of
the armed services.

The
new Menzies Government is sworn in with A W Fadden as Deputy
Prime Minister. Enid Lyons becomes the first woman to serve
in a Commonwealth ministry.

Australian
Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) is established.

There
is a Poliomyelitis epidemic in most states.

The
Australian Broadcasting Control Board comes into being.

Opera
singer Joan Sutherland wins the Sydney Sun Aria competition.

Filmmaker
Charles Chauvel releases 'Sons of Matthew'.

Ruth
Park's 'Poor Man's Orange' is published.

Percival
Serle releases 'The Dictionary of Biography'.

1950s

The 1950s were
a time of great optimism. The war was over but some people saw a
new threat -- communism. The government was only narrowly defeated
in its referendum to ban the Communist Party in Australia. The Australian
Labor Party split and the DLP (Democratic Labor party) was formed.

Australia was
'riding on the sheep's back', bikinis were banned on some of Sydney's
beaches, television came to Australia and the invention of the Victa
lawnmower and the Hills Hoist helped to create the Australian dream.
The Australian armed forces were sent to Malaya during the 'Emergency'
and to Korea to fight against communism.

By the end
of the decade, post-war immigration had changed the country forever
and, at the same time, the way Australians looked at themselves.
The ANZUS Treaty was signed, a cure for polio was found and the
White Australia Policy ended. New literature was being written,
the Olympic Games were held in Melbourne and sporting heroes continued
to be important to the Australian image. The population reached
ten milion, however Aborigines were still not included in the census.

Questions
for research and discussion:

Find
out about the Malayan Emergency and the Korean War. Why were
Australian soldiers sent so far from home to fight?

In 1951 the price of wool reached 375 pence per pound. Why was
this so high? Can you find out what the price of wool is today?

In
the timeline, you will notice that in 1953 Japan appointed an
Ambassador to Australia. Why do you think there had not been
an Ambassador since the second world war? Why was this a significant
event for many Australians?

The
Communist Party Dissolution Bill is introduced into Federal
Parliament. It is passed by both houses.

The
High Court hears a challenge to the validity of the Communist
Party Dissolution Act. The challenge is made by the Parties
and 10 unions. H V Evatt, the ALP deputy leader, appears for
the Waterside Workers' Federation.

Australia
plays a leading role in establishing Colombo Plan to aid the
development of Asian nations.

Australian
forces are sent to Korean War.

Military
conscription is reintroduced.

RAAF
units are sent to help in the Malayan 'emergency'.

Child
endowment is extended to cover the first child.

Butter
rationing ends.

The
Commonwealth introduces a free milk scheme for schoolchildren.

The
Australian teenage subculture of 'Bodgies' and 'Widgies' is
first noted in newspapers.

Sydney
has a record-breaking 2,193 mm of rain during the year.

Lake
Eyre fills with water- the first time to be observed by Europeans.

Australian
writer Frank Hardy publishes 'Power without Glory'. The book
became the subject of a criminal libel action brought by Mrs
John Wren. The author was eventually found not guilty.

Female
basic wage is set at 75% of the male wage.

The
estimated population of Australia is 8,307,481.

The
High Court declares the Communist Party Dissolution Act to be
invalid.

The
price of wool reaches a record 375 pence per pound (the average
was 144 pence). This is to be compared with 10 pence per pound
in 1939.

More
than 1,500 cases and 121 deaths from poliomyelitis are reported
in New South Wales.

The
Commonwealth and State governments agree to implement a policy
of assimilation of Aborigines.

Paid
sick leave and paid long-service leave are introduced in New
SouthWales.

Waverley
Council in Sydney bans the bikini swimsuit on its beaches.

A
security treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the United
States - the ANZUS Treaty - is signed at San Francisco. (It
is ratified on 29 April,1952).

The
Treaty of Peace between Allied Powers and Japan is signed in
San Francisco and comes into force on 28 April 1952. Australia's
occupation force in Japan ceases operations.

A
referendum to give the Commonwealth Government power to ban
the Communist Party is defeated by a narrow margin: 2,317,927
in favour; 2,370,009 against.

The
'Australian Financial Review' begins publication in Sydney,
as a weekly newspaper.

Melbourne
prostitute Jean Lee and her two pimps are hanged in Melbourne
for the torture and murder of a 73-year-old bookmaker.

A
Pensioner Medical Service begins, providing all pensioners with
free medical care.

'School
of the Air' begins, broadcasting from the Flying Doctor base
at Alice Springs.

Evatt
publicly attacks Victorian right wing members of the ALP, accusing
them of disloyal and subversive actions directed from outside
the party. He was referring to the Industrial Groups, organised
by the Catholic Social Studies Movement.

Legislation
is introduced in Western Australia to legalise off-course betting.

Australia's
first automatic telephone time service begins operating in Sydney.

A
referendum is held in New South Wales on hotel closing hours.
The majority are in favour of 10 pm.

Queen
Elizabeth II, the first reigning monarch to visit Australia,
arrives with Prince Philip for a visit to all states.

New
South Wales experiences its worst cyclone which causes disastrous
flooding of northern rivers and the deaths of 26 people.

Sustained
and widespread flooding occurs in Queensland where at least
10 lives are lost and Rockhampton is cut off.

An
earthquake (5.4 on the Richter scale) causes extensive damage
in the Adelaide area.

Vladimir
Petrov defects from the Soviet Embassy in Canberra and seeks
political asylum in Australia.

Prime
Minister Menzies informs Parliament of Petrov's defection and
announces that a Royal Commission will be held into Soviet espionage
in Australia.

Mrs
Evdokia Petrov leaves the aircraft taking her back to the Soviet
Union at Darwin and seeks political asylum in Australia with
her husband.

The
Soviet Union withdraws its diplomatic representatives from Australia.

The
Australian-American War Memorial in Canberra is unveiled by
the Queen.

A
Telex (teleprinter exchange) service is introduced in Sydney
and Melbourne.

The
South-East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) is set up.

62%.
of Australia's workforce belong to unions.

John
Landy breaks two world records, running a mile in 3 minutes,
58 seconds and 1500 metres in 3 minutes, 41.8 seconds.

US
Film star Peter Lawford introduces the Malibu surfboard to Australia.

Vance
Palmer writes 'The Legend of the Nineties'.

The
new literary quarterly 'Overland' is launched by Stephen Murray-Smith.

Six
o'clock closing of hotels in NSW ends. Bars are allowed to open
till 10 pm with, for some time, a break from 6.30 pm to 7.30
pm.

A
referendum in the ACT on hotel closing hours also results in
a majority in favour of remaining open until10 pm.

The
first power generated by the Snowy Mountains scheme from the
Guthega power station is fed into the New South Wales electricity
system.

A
split in the Labor Party over the activities of the Industrial
Groups (or 'Groupers') comes to a head at the ALP federal conference
in Hobart.

The
ALP Victorian Executive expels 104 Industrial Group members
of the party including 18 members of the Victorian Parliament
and six members of the House of Representatives, who subsequently
form the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), later the
Democratic Labor Party or DLP.

Catholic
bishops and archbishops issue a joint pastoral attacking communism
in unions and criticising the withdrawal by the ALP of official
recognition of the Industrial Groups.

First
meeting of SEATO Council is held in Bangkok, Thailand.

Disastrous
floods sweep through northern New South Wales; more than 2,000
homes are flooded in Maitland and about 100 houses are swept
away. At least 22 people drown.

Federal
Cabinet agrees to send ground troops to Malaya.

'Black
Sunday' in Adelaide, with bushfires, gale-force winds, and temperature
of 40ÁC. Two firefighters die and the vice-regal residence at
Marble Hill is destroyed.

Elections
are held for the House of Representatives and half Senate; Menzies
Government is returned with an increased majority. Anti-Communist
Labor members lose their seats in the House of Representatives
(but have two seats in the Senate).

New
members include J F Cairns, Malcolm Fraser and B M Snedden.

The
Petrov Royal Commission final report is tabled in Federal Parliament.
There are no grounds for any prosecutions.

Adelaide's
'Sunday' Advertiser merges with the 'Mail' to become the 'Sunday
Mail'.

The
millionth post-war migrant arrives in November.

The
death penalty is abolished in New South Wales.

Barry
Humphries' character Edna Everage makes her stage debut.

The
Elizabethan Theatre opens in Newtown, Sydney.

Melbourne's
Moomba Festival is inaugurated.

Ray
Lawler's play 'The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll' is produced
for the first time.

The
Wyndham Committee reports on secondary education in New South
Wales. The Wyndham Scheme is not introduced until 1962.

Australia
and Japan sign a trade agreement on most-favoured-nation terms.

Australia
and the United States conclude an agreement concerning atomic
information, for mutual defence purposes.

An
Asian flu epidemic breaks out.

The
'Melbourne Argus' ceases publication.

The
Commonwealth Arbitration Commission increases the basic wage
by ten shillings a week and decides to institute an annual review.

The
Federal government announces amendments to the National Service
system: the number of trainees is to be reduced; training in
the navy and air force to be discontinued; registration is to
remain compulsory but the intake is to be determined by a ballot
based on the date of birth.

A
Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginals and Torres
Strait Islanders is established.

Joern
Utzon of Denmark wins the competition for a design of Sydney
Opera House.

Slim
Dusty's 'A Pub With No Beer' is awarded Australia's first gold
record.

Bob
Dyer's radio quiz show 'Pick a Box' begins on television.

Aboriginal
artist Albert Namatjira is granted full Australian citizenship.

William
Dobell paints his portrait of Dame Mary Gilmore.

Arthur
Boyd begins his 'Love, Marriage and Death of a Half-Caste' series
of paintings.

'The
Shiralee' is made into a film starring Peter Finch.

Books
published:
Martin Boyd, 'Outbreak of Love'.
John O'Grady under the pen name of 'Nino Culotta', 'They're
a Weird Mob'.
Vance Palmer, 'Seedtime'.
Nevil Shute, 'On the Beach'.
Patrick White, 'Voss' (The winner of the inaugural Miles Franklin
Award).

The
Commonwealth Migration Act abolishes the dictation test.

The
first Opera House Lottery is drawn in New South Wales.

Qantas
inaugurates a round-the-world air service.

John
McEwan succeeds Sir Arthur Fadden as Federal Country Party leader.

An
election for the House of Representatives and half Senate is
held; the Menzies Government is returned with a substantial
majority, helped by Democratic Labor Party (DLP) preferences.

Three
weeks annual leave is granted to all employees under New South
Wales awards (effective from 1 January 1959).

Legislation
is enacted in New South Wales to provide for equal pay for 'work
of the same or like nature and of equal value' performed by
men and women. The female wage was to be increased progressively.

The
Clean Air Act is passed in Victoria, the first state to legislate
to control air pollution.

Agreement
is reached in Canberra between Australia and the Netherlands
on administrative problems of New Guinea.

Legislation
is enacted in New South Wales to prevent the defamation of dead
as well as living persons.

Aboriginal
itinerant worker Rupert Max Stuart murders nine-year-old Mary
Hattam at Ceduna, South Australia. Stuart is subsequently sentenced
to death, but after a series of appeals, a Royal Commission,
and much public controversy, his sentence is commuted to life
imprisonment.

Sydney's
Cahill Expressway is opened. It is completed to Woolloomooloo
by 1962.

Monash
University, Melbourne, is established by an Act of Parliament.

The
administration of Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean is transferred
from British-ruled Singapore to Australia.

The
first Australian canned beer is sold.

Albert
Namatjira is sentenced to six months jail for supplying liquor
to another Aboriginal. It is reduced on appeal to three months.

A
National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is established at
the University of New SouthWales.

'Bandstand',
hosted by Brian Henderson, begins on television.

Herb
Elliott runs a world record 3 minutes, 54.5 seconds for the
mile.

10
volumes of the 'Australian Encyclopedia' are publised

Russel
Ward writes 'The Australian Legend'.

W.
E. Pidgeon's portrait of Mr Ray Walker wins the Archibald Prize.

An
Immigration Reform Group is founded in Melbourne, to work on
ending the White Australia Policy.

Australia
receives its 1,500,000th migrant since 1945.

Working
hours in state-owned coalmines in New South Wales are reduced
to 37 and a half hours per week.

Legislation
is introduced into Federal Parliament to provide for a uniform
code of divorce law throughout Australia.

The
first major power station of the Snowy Mountains Scheme begins
operating.

Legislation
is enacted establishing a permanent Australian Universities
Commission.

The
National Service training scheme is suspended.

Australia
and eleven other nations sign a thirty-year treaty in Washington
to preserve Antarctica for peaceful scientific research and
to retain the status quo of sovereignty.

Australia
and the Soviet Union resume diplomatic relations.

Darwin
becomes a city.

Work
begins on the Sydney Opera House. The plaque is laid by J J
Cahill on 2 March.

The
population of Australia reaches ten million.

1960s

The 1960s was
the decade in which many Australians began to change old ideas and
values. Aborigines were included in the census and given the vote.
Television brought the Vietnam War into people's living-rooms and
many teenagers questioned their parents' values - and began to ignore
them! The term, the 'Generation Gap' was used frequently when despairing
parents failed to understand what their sons and daughters were
doing.

The Beatles
visited Australia, the Twist and long hair for men became popular,
people began carrying 'eskys' to the football and Dawn Fraser set
five world records.

Menzies was
returned to government with a majority of one. He retired in the
mid-sixties and Harold Holt took over. Holt's slogan of 'All the
Way with LBJ' was not fully supported and the conscription issue
over troops being sent to the Vietnam War divided many Australians.

The times were
changing, Armstrong had landed on the moon and young Australians
were looking for new and exciting ideas, art, music and clothes.

Questions
for research and discussion:

What
is Alan Seymour's play 'One Day of the Year' about?

What
were the 'freedom rides'?

Why
is it that we often know more about what happened in the 1960s
in the United States and Britain than we do about Australia?
Are most of our understandings of recent history formed by television
and movies?

Why
was music such an important part of the society of the 1960s?

Aborigines
become Australian citizens and are eligible for social welfare
benefits.

Three
federal banking bodies are established in 1959 - the Reserve
Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Development Bank, and the
Commonwealth Banking Corporation - begin operations.

Australian
Council of Churches holds its first national conference.

Viscount
Dunrossil succeeds Lord Slim as Governor-General.

H
V Evatt resigns as leader of the federal opposition and becomes
Chief Justice of the New South Wales Supreme Court.

Import
licensing removed from 90% of all imported goods.

Arthur
Calwell is elected federal ALP leader to replace Evatt.

National
Service training officially ends; the remaining trainees are
discharged.

All
capital cities now have ABC and commercial television stations.

Eight-year-old
Graeme Thorne, son of an Opera House lottery winner, is kidnapped
on his way home from school in Sydney; the kidnapper demands
£25,000 ransom.

The
body of Graeme Thorne is found at Seaforth. Police arrest the
killer Stephen Bradley at Colombo on his way to England on 10
October.

Sir
Macfarlane Burnet shares the Nobel Prize for medicine with Sir
Peter Medawar for their work on acquired immunological tolerance.

Viscount
De L'Isle becomes Governor-General following the death of Lord
Dunrossil.

An
election for the House of Representatives and half Senate is
held. The Menzies Government is returned (as a result of DLP
preferences). After electing a Speaker they only have a majority
of one in the House of Representatives.

New
members include Bill Hayden and Senator Lionel Murphy.

A
moving footway from Sydney's Domain parking station to College
Street opens.

Malley's
registers the trade name 'Esky' for its insulated metal food
container. Soon, almost every family in Australia seemed to
have an esky for drinks and food at picnics and sports events.

Totalizer
Agency Boards (TAB) were established in Victoria and Western
Australia. (New South Wales in 1964).

China
buys more than a million tonnes of wheat from Australia.

The
contraceptive pill is introduced in Australia.

Tennis
player Rod Laver wins the men's singles at Wimbledon.

Igor
Stravinsky conducts performances of his own works in Australia.

A
Bahai Temple is built in Sydney.

A
Muslim Mosque is built in Canberra.

ABC's
current affairs television program 'Four Corners' is launched.

The
Australian National Bibliography begins publication.

Alan
Seymour's play, 'The One Day of the Year' and Patrick White's
'The Ham Funeral' are first produced.

CSIRO
physicist Gilbert Bogle and Mrs Margaret Chandler are found
dead in bushland beside the Lane Cove River near Fullers Bridge,
Sydney. The suspicious circumstances of their deaths remains
unexplained.

AWU
members begin industrial action at Mount Isa over dissatisfaction
with a wage increase.

'Oz'
magazine is judged to be obscene by a magistrate; publishers
Richard Walsh, Richard Neville, and Martin Sharp are sentenced
to terms of imprisonment. Their convictions are quashed in February
1965 after an appeal.

Princess
Marina, Duchess of Kent, visits Australia for the British Exhibition
and the opening of Sydney's Gladesville Bridge.

An
Australian Council for the Arts is established. Later, it is
called the Australia Council.

The
first Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) store opens in Guildford
in Sydney.

The
new National Gallery of Victoria opens.

Poet
Dorothea Mackeller dies at 82.

William
Pidgeon's portrait of Lloyd Rees wins the Archibald Prize.

Alexander
Buzo writes his play, 'Norm and Ahmed'.

Cannons
from Captain Cook's ship the 'Endeavour' are recovered from
Endeavour Reef, off Cooktown, North Queensland.

Sir
Paul Hasluck succeeds Lord Casey as Governor-General.

The
Labor Party is defeated in Tasmania after 35 years in office.
W.A. Bethune, leader of the Liberal-Centre Party coalition,
becomes Premier. For the first time since 1910, no Labor Government
holds office in Australia.

HMAS
'Melbourne' collides with USS 'Frank E Evans' during SEATO naval
excercises in the South China Sea, cutting the American ship
in two; 73 American lives are lost.

Thousands
demonstrate in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, and Adelaide
against American anfd Australian involvement in the war in Vietnam.

'Poseidon'
Mining Company announces the discovery of a massive lode of
nickel at Windarra, Western Australia, setting off a share boom.
($1 shares peak at $280 in February 1970 - the company is in
receivership in 1977).

'Oz'
magazine ceases publication in Australia.

Australia's
steam train era ends with the last journey of locomotive 3801
between Sydney and Goulburn.

An
election is held for the House of Representatives. The Gorton
Government is returned with its majority reduced to seven (DLP
preferences keeping Labor out of office).

New
members include Lionel Bowen and Paul Keating.

The
first women's liberation groups are formed in Sydney and Adelaide.

Alexander
Buzo's play 'Rooted' and Jack Hibberd's 'Dimboola' are first
produced.

The
Rock musical 'Hair' is presented in Sydney.

1970s

The decade
began with a Liberal-Country Party government and ended with the
Coalition again in power. In 1972 the Australian Labor Party won
the Federal election after 23 years in opposition. Gough Whitlam
became Prime Minister and immediately ended the National Service
call-up. The voting age was reduced to 18 years old and university
fees were abolished.

Germaine Greer
wrote `The Female Eunuch' which became a bible for the rising feminist
movement. Green bans caused massive debates over heritage and what
was or was not worth saving. Aboriginal Land Rights became part
of the political agenda and the Aboriginal flag was designed.

In 1973, Australia
had a new icon -- the Sydney Opera House. This landmark was officially
opened by Queen Elizabeth II who was now known as the Queen of Australia.
The following year the government announced that `Advance Australia
Fair' would supercede `God Save the Queen' as Australia's national
anthem. The debate over the anthem went on for years until a national
poll on the question was held in 1977.

In 1975, a
constitutional crisis occurred when the Governor-General dismissed
the Whitlam Government and appointed Malcolm Fraser, the leader
of the Liberal Party, as caretaker Prime Minister. Labor lost the
ensuing election and Malcolm Fraser became the new Prime Minister.

The seventies
brought about many changes that had been talked about in the sixties.

Questions
for research and discussion:

In
1972 diplomatic relations were established with China and the
Federal Republic of Germany. Why had they not been established
before?

In
1973, John Olsen painted the mural `Salute to Five Bells'. Find
out the name of the poet who wrote the poem `Five Bells'.

What
is a double dissolution?

Look
at the year 1976 -- what two changes to law could have caused
controversy?

The
Gibb Inquiry looks into the situation of Aboriginal people on
pastoral properties.

More
than 70,000 people, led by federal MP Jim Cairns, march through
Melbourne in protest against Australian participation in the
Vietnam War; similar 'moratorium' rallies held in other capital
cities.

Prime
minister John Gorton announces Australia will convert its system
of weights and measures to metrics over the next ten years.

Melbourne's
West Gate Bridge collapses, killing 35 bridge workers.

The
Indian Pacific train makes its first journey from Sydney to
Perth, taking three days.

Australia's
withdrawal of troops from Vietnam begins with the return of
the 8th Battalion, which is not replaced.

Pope
Paul VI, the first pope to visit Australia, arrives in Sydney.

Margaret
Sleeman becomes Australia's first female magistrate.

Eighteen-year-olds
get the vote in Western Australia This also occurs in South
Australia and New South Wales in 1971, Queensland and Victoria
in 1973.

A
gradual drift by Aboriginal people to cities away from fringe
reserves and country towns occurs, especially in New South Wales,
South Australia and Western Australia with urban strongholds
being established in areas such as Redfern, in Sydney.

Sheep
numbers in Australia peak at 180 million.

The
Federal Government refuses to recognise Aboriginal land claims
at Wave Hill in the Northern Territory.

The
number of registered unemployed reaches 327,334 (5.45% of the
workforce).

The
NSW Parliament introduces the Heritage Act. This Act legally
protects building structures and relics existing prior to 1900.
It is administered by the Heritage Council of New South Wales.

Australia's
worst railway disaster occurs when a commuter train from the
Blue Mountains crashes into a concrete bridge at Granville,
Sydney; 83 people are killed and many injured by the falling
bridge.

Queen
Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visit all states and territories
during the Queen's Silver Jubilee year.

Robyn
Davidson sets out from Alice Springs with four camels to travel
overland to the west coast. She arrives at Hamelin Pool, south
of Carnarvon, Western Australia, eight months later.

The
Australian Democrats Party is launched by former Liberal MP
Don Chipp.

The
Australian Wheat Board announces a record 3 million tonne sale
worth $280 million, to China.

Referendums
are held on proposals to fill casual Senate vacancies with members
of the same party, to allow territorial electors to vote in
referendums, and to set a retiring age for judges (carried);
proposal to hold simultaneous House of Representatives and Senate
elections (rejected).

National
poll is held to determine the public choice of a national song.The
results were 'Advance Australia Fair' 2,940,854; 'Waltzing Matilda'
1,918,206; 'God Save the Queen' 1,257,341; and 'Song of Australia'
652,858.

Most
Methodist and Presbyterian churches combined as the Uniting
church.

1980s

The 1980s are
remembered by many as a time of excess, entrepreneurs and environmental
issues.

Issues of all
kinds came to the fore -- a referendum was held over whether to
dam the Franklin River, peace rallies were well attended during
the early part of the decade, land rights became part of the political
agenda and the first national council on AIDS was held in 1984.
A Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody was set up
and Australia signed the Ozone Layer Treaty.

The Bicentenary
caused controversy as people remembered 200 years of European settlement
or 200 years of white oppression.

The Australian
economy was placed in a world context when the Australian dollar
was floated and the banking system deregulated. Unrealistic amounts
of money were borrowed, house prices rose considerably and share
prices on the Australian stockmarket crashed. By the end of the
decade a large number of corporations had collapsed.

Australia's
high profile in sport continued with success in the America's Cup,
the Wallabies rugby tours, the world surf-riding championship and
victory in the Ashes tour of England for the first time in 55 years.

Questions
for research and discussion:

In
the 1980s there were many firsts for women. Go through the timeline
and make a list of these, giving the date and the achievement.

Choose
two events from the 1980s that you think were influential on
how Australians regard themselves. Give reasons for your answer.

Why
do you think the Australian National Film and Sound archives
were set up in 1984?

Why
did the Australian government recommend that Australia not participate
in the Moscow Olympics in 1980?

What
are the `Ashes'?

The
Japanese company Mitsubishi takes over Chrysler Australia Ltd.

Queen
Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visit Australia for the opening
of the High Court building in Canberra.

Convicted
bank robber Darcy Dugan is released from Maitland Jail, New
South Wales, after spending more than 30 of his 59 years in
prison. He is re-arrested in 1981 and charged with the armed
hold-up of a service station.

Baby
Azaria Chamberlain disappears from a campsite at Ayers Rock,
reportedly taken by a dingo.

Robert
(Bob) Hawke resigns as president of the ACTU and is elected
to the House of Representatives.

An
election for the House of Representatives and half Senate is
held and the Fraser Government is re-elected with a reduced
majority. The Democrats win three more Senate seats.

A
world-wide competition for a design for the new Parliament House
in Canberra is won by the United States-based Romaldo Giurgola.

The
Pitjantjatjara Council advises the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs
of the possible radioactive contamination of Aboriginal people
in South Australia caused by the atomic tests of 1953.

Australia's
Landsat data-acquisition station at Alice Springs begins receiving
direct information from United States remote-sensing satellites.

NSW
is crippled by a petrol drivers strike.

Justice
David Opus, a Family Court judge, is shot dead at his Sydney
home.

The
Turkish Consul-General is shot on 17 December, This is the first
political assassination in Australia.

Australia's
first 'test tube' baby is born.

Automatic
teller machines are introduced.

Women
are allowed to become full members of surf lifesaving clubs.

Deborah
Wardley becomes the first woman in Australia to be appointed
as a pilot for a major commercial airline.

The
Australian Olympic Federation votes to send a team to the Olympic
Games in Moscow even though the Federal Government has called
for a boycott because of Russia's intervention in Afghanistan.
Some individual athletes subsequently withdraw from the team.

Queen
Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visit Australia to open the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting in Melbourne.

The
National Bank of Australasia and Commercial Banking Company
of Sydney merge to form the National Australia Bank.

The
Bank of New South Wales and the Commercial Bank of Australasia
merge. It begins trading under the name of Westpac on 1 October
1982.

The
Rural Bank of New South Wales becomes the State Bank.

A
referendum is held in Tasmania to decide the site of the dam
on the Franklin River (44.89% vote 'No Dams' or informal).

Death
duties are abolished in New South Wales.

Antivenene
for funnelweb spider bites is developed by Struan Sutherland
of the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories. This has taken over
22 years to develop.

The
four-millionth Holden vehicle comes off the assembly line.

Metal
trades workers gain a 38-hour week.

Pat
O'Shane is appointed permanent head of the New South Wales Department
of Aboriginal Affairs.

The
Cairns section of the Great Barrier Reef is proclaimed as a
Marine Park.

Dame
Enid Lyons, the first woman in Federal Parliament dies at 84.

The
Australian Institute of Sport opens at the National Sports Centre
in Canberra.

Cricketer
Dennis Lillee takes his 310th Test wicket, setting a new world
record.

Cricketer
Trevor Chappell bowls the last ball underarm in a World Series
Cricket match against New Zealand in Melbourne to prevent New
Zealand scoring the six runs it needed to draw. There is a public
uproar.

New
South Wales Premier Neville Wran steps aside while a Royal Commission
investigates allegations made on the ABC TV program 'Four Corners'
that he attempted to influence the magistracy.

New
South Wales Premier Neville Wran is exonerated and resumes his
post as New South Wales Premier. Chief magistrate Murray Farquhar
is charged with perverting the course of justice.

The
Australian Broadcasting Commission is reconstituted as the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation.

The
first death from AIDS in Australia occurs.

Dick
Smith completes the first solo flight around the world in a
helicopter.

Paul
Sharp becomes the first white person to cross the Simpson Desert
alone and on foot.

A
High Court decision blocks the construction of the Gordon-below-Franklin
dam in Tasmania.

The
foundations of Sydney's first Government House are uncovered
by Heritage Council archaeologists.

The
second building for the State Library of New South Wales, Sydney
is begun. It is completed in 1988.

The
first electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS) is
launched by Westpac Bank.

The
Inaugural National Conference of Aboriginal Writers is held
in Perth.

The
Melbourne Cricket Club votes to allow women members.

Cliff
Young, aged 61, wins the inaugural Sydney-Melbourne foot race.

Kiwi
wins the Melbourne cup.

Golfer
Jan Stephenson wins the US Women's Open golf championship.

Runner
Robert de Castella wins the marathon at Rotterdam and at the
world athletic championships in Helsinki.

Australia
II wins the America's Cup. It is the first time in 132 years
that a non-American yacht has won.

Unemployed
number 730,000 (10.4% of the workforce).

'Advance
Australia Fair' is proclaimed as Australia's official national
anthem and green and gold as Australia's national colours.

The
$100 banknote is introduced.

The
$1 coin is introduced.

Friday
night and Saturday afternoon shopping are introduced in New
South Wales.

76,000
square kilometres of land are returned to the Aboriginal people
at Maralinga.

First
National Council on AIDS is held.

Banks
are deregulated.

Heavy
snowfalls block roads and railways in eastern Australia. Sydney
has its coldest July day since 1896.

Migrants
from Asia increase by 17%, while those from Europe fall by 37%.

More
than a hundred of the thousand companies listed on the stock
exchange are taken over during the year.

The
video-cassette boom cuts attendances at cinemas and forces the
closure of some drive-in cinemas.

A
mouse plague sweeps New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia
country districts.

Tim
Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer become the first Australians
to climb Mount Everest and the first to ascend the north face
without oxygen.

The
National Film and Sound Archives open in Canberra.

At
the Los Angeles Olympics, Glynis Nunn wins the women's heptathlon,
John Sieben wins the 200 metres butterfly swimming, the Australian
men's cycling team wins the 4,000 metres team pursuit, and Dean
Lukin wins the super heavyweight weight-lifting.

The
Australian Jockey Club (AJC) 'warns off' Bill and Robbie Waterhouse
following the substitution of the racehorse Bold Personality
for Fine Cotton at Brisbane Racecourse.

The
State Sports Centre opens in Homebush, Sydney.

Black
Knight wins the Melbourne Cup.

Wallabies
Rugby Union team achieve the grand slam, beating England, Ireland,
Wales, and Scotland, and also the Barbarians.

Tom
Carroll wins the world surfing (board-riding) championship.

Hyde
Park Barracks, Sydney, are restored and converted to a museum
of social history.

Australia's
first Mormon temple is built in Carlingford, Sydney.

The
world's first frozen-embryo baby is born in Melbourne.

Australia
begins a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council.

More
than 140 bushfires rage through Victoria and South Australia.
Five people are killed.

AM
stereo radio broadcasting begins.

Women
begin training in the Australian Army.

In
the 'Come to Canberra Campaign' joint Land Councils from the
Northern Territory and the States go to Parliament House, Canberra,
to protest against the amendments to the Aboriginal Land Rights
Act of the Northern Territory.

The
United States withdraws from a planned ANZUS naval exercise
after New Zealand refuses to allow nuclear-capable United States
warships to call at its ports.

Australia
cancels its involvement in American MX missile tests.

More
than 300,000 people across Australia march in Palm Sunday anti-nuclear
rallies.

'Southern
Aurora' and 'Spirit of Progress' trains combine to become the
Melbourne/Sydney Express.

The
Trans-Australia Airlines (TAA) becomes Australian Airlines.

Sydney
has its wettest 24 hours on record, with more than 327 mm of
rain falling. Six people are killed, 1,500 evacuated and transport
is in chaos.

Joan
Child becomes first female speaker of the House of Representatives.

Australian
Democrats leader Don Chipp retires from Federal Parliament and
is succeeded as party leader by Senator Janine Haines, the first
woman and the first South Australian to become a parliamentary
party leader.

NSW
Premier, Neville Wran, retires from politics.

Liberals
are re-elected in Tasmania and the ALP is returned in Western
Australia.

Federal
Government introduces a $250 administration charge for all tertiary
students, to take effect in the 1987 academic year.

Mary
Gaudron becomes the first woman appointed to the High Court.

There
is a severe downturn in the rural sector which threatens the
economic survival of many farmers.

Pope
John Paul II visits Australia.

The
Turkish Consulate in Melbourne is bombed.

The
Roman Catholic Church becomes Australia's largest religious
denomination (26.25%).

The
Aboriginal television station 'Imarja' begins transmission in
Alice Springs.

The
First Fleet re-enactment vessels arrive at Botany Bay.

The
NSW Labor government is defeated in the elections. Nick Greiner,
Lberal Party leader, becomes Premier of NSW.

Parliament
House on Capital Hill, Canberra, is officially opened by Queen
Elizabeth II.

Former
Prime Minister Sir William McMahon dies in Sydney, aged 80.

Sydney's
controversial monorail begins operations.

The
two-dollar coin goes into circulation to replace the banknote.

The
number of motor vehicles on Australia's roads increases to more
than 9.3 million.

Australia
signs the Ozone Layer Treaty.

Luna
Park (Sydney) closes down.

Construction
work begins on the Sydney Harbour Tunnel.

Sir
Charles Moses, former head of the ABC, dies in Sydney, aged
88.

At
the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea; Duncan Armstrong wins the
200 metres freestyle swimming; Sue Williams wins the women's
judo; Debbie Flintoff-King wins the 400 metres hurdles; and
the women's team wins at hockey.

Kay
Cottee in her yacht 'First Lady' arrives back at Port Jackson
to become the first woman to sail single-handed non-stop around
the world.

Empire
Rose wins the Melbourne Cup.

Peter
Carey's 'Oscar and Lucinda' wins both the Booker Prize and 1989
Miles Franklin Award.

Books
published:
The Australian Encyclopedia, 5th edition (9 volumes).
The Australian National Dictionary.

Bill
Hayden succeeds Sir Ninian Stephen as Governor-General.

A
large earthquake strikes Newcastle, New South Wales, killing
13 people, injuring more than 120, and damaging many city buildings.

The
'Greens' hold the balance of power in Tasmania for first time
in Australian history.

The
Communist Party of Australia decides to disband.

Poet
and civil rights campaigner Oodgeroo Noonuccal receives a Doctorate
at Griffith University. She is the first Aboriginal woman to
receive a PhD.

Australia
offers temporary resident status to 20,000 Chinese students
in the aftermath of the massacre in Tiananmen Square.

Several
large corporations, including Equiticorp, Hooker Corporation,
Spedley Securities and Qintex, collapse during the year.

Gaby
Kennard, the first Australian woman to fly single-handed around
the world, arrives back at Bankstown Airport.

Australia's
current account deficit rises to $21 billion.

Andrew
Peacock displaces John Howard as Liberal Party leader and Charles
Blunt replaces Ian Sinclair as Federal National Party leader.

The
Home loan interest rates increase to 18 per cent.

Singer
Kylie Minogue's debut LP 'Kylie' and its associated singles
sell more than 12 million copies and top the charts in 20 countries.

The
Australian cricket team captained by Allan Border wins the 'Ashes'
in England for the first time in 55 years.

The
ALP wins government in Queensland after 32 years.

1990s

By 1994, the
Australian Labor Party has governed Australia for over 10 years,
Paul Keating is the Prime Minister and the move for Australia to
become a republic is gaining momentum. The 1992 Mabo High Court
decision recognising that Australia was occupied prior to 1788 by
the Aboriginal people is causing controversy and debate in the community.

Sydney was
chosen to host the Year 2000 Olympics, the Sydney Harbour Bridge
celebrated its 60th birthday and the Sydney Harbour Tunnel opened
to help ease Sydney's traffic problems.

The decade
began with a recession and a large amount of people were unemployed.
The excesses of the eighties had taken their toll, but the economy
was on the mend by the mid-90s.

What will
the future bring?

On
31 January 1993, the Sun-Herald published a `Poll on the Future'
journalist Simon Kent. began the article, `The Prime Minister turned
towards her videophone on the wall of her office... she left the
lodge and climbed into her electric-powered Ford Citymate...'

What do you
think will happen in the remaining years of the 2000s? Write your
own timeline of events up to the year 2010.

Questions
for research and discussion:

If
Australia is to become a Republic how might the system work?
That is, who would replace the Queen as Head of State? Who would
choose the new head? Would the states still exist?

After
thinking about and discussing these issues, write two letters
to the editor of a major newspaper on the issue of Australia
becoming a republic -- one supporting the idea of a republic
and one supporting retaining the monarchy.

The
issue of a new flag and the idea of a republic are seen by many
as two separate issues. Can Australia have a new flag and still
retain the monarchy?

There
are interest groups that support all these issues. How important
are interest groups in forming public opinion?

It
is reported that the Queen has asked that Australian citizens
no longer be nominated for British Imperial honours.

A
report is released revealing that the State Bank of Victoria
had incurred a loss of $1.345 billion, the largest in Australia's
corporate history.

In
an election for the House of Representatives and a half Senate,
Bob Hawke and the Labor Party government are re-elected with
a reduced majority. New members include Ted Mack, the first
independent elected to the House for 35 years.

John
Hewson is elected leader of the Liberal Party.

Three
navy warships leave Sydney for the Persian Gulf as part of a
multinational force to enforce the United Nations embargo of
Iraq following its annexation of Kuwait.

Bob
Hawke attends the 75th anniversary of ANZAC Day ceremony at
Gallipoli.

Kerry
Packer regains control of the Channel 9 television network.

Direct
broadcasting of Senate question time begins on television.

Floor
trading ends at the Australian Stock Exchange.

One-cent
and two-cent coins cease being issued.

Cigarette
advertising is banned in print media.

Women
in Australia's defence forces are allowed to do combat-related
duties.

Author
Patrick White dies.

Joan
Sutherland gives the final performance of her career at the
Sydney Opera House.

Morning
and afternoon newspapers in Sydney and Melbourne merge into
24 hour publications.

Anniversary
of the 'Kokoda Trail' campaign in the second world war, where
many Australians fought.

Alan
Border, Australian Cricket Captain resigns from the Australian
cricket team.

Alexander
Downer replaces John Hewson as the new leader of the Liberal
Party in opposition.

Nancy
Wake's war medals are put up for auction. They are bought by
the RSL and donated to the Australian War Memorial.

The
movie 'Sirens' about Australian artist Norman Lindsay is released
internationally. Shot on location at Lindsay's estate in the
the Blue Mountains, the film stars Elle Macpherson.

Donald
Bradman's cricketing record of highest runs in an innings is
broken by West Indian Brian Lara with a score of 501.

'Heartlands'
airs on ABC TV. It is one of the first fictional TV series which
recognises Aboriginal lifestyles.

Disastrous
bushfires sweep thoughout NSW and into suburban Sydney.

'Who'
magazine is held in contempt of court for releasing photographs
of an arrested suspect in the 'backpacker murders' case.

NSW
beats Queensland in the first 'State of Origin' Rugby League
game to be held on neutral ground in Melbourne.

50th
anniversary of the Allied D-Day landings in Normandy that helped
bring about victory in the second world war.

Jane
Campion, the director of 'The Piano', wins an Acadamy Award
(Best Original Screenplay) and an award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Two of the actors, Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin, also win Academy
Awards.

The
hole in ozone layer continues to grow, increasing the greenhouse
effect and the incidence of skin cancer continues to accelerate.

Former
prime minister Bob Hawke releases his memoirs causing great
controversy about his account of how Paul Keating replaced him
as Prime Minister.

Queensland
town of Winton celebrates the 100th anniversary of Banjo Pattersons
Waltzing Matilda

50th
anniversary of the allied forces victory over Japan

According
to a World bank rating system Australias natural resources
have made it the worlds richest nation

The
Northern Territorys Aborigines are 40 times more likely
to die from infectious diseases than other Australians

Federal cabinet proclaims the Aboriginal and Torres Strait flag
as an official flag of Australia

Australia
and France break off relations in protest against the French
who are conducting testing of atomic bombs in the Pacific Ocean

Former
High Court Judge, Sir William Deane is appointed Governor General
of Australia

Claims
of plagiarism in the novel, The Hand that signed the paper,
against 24 year old Helen Darville has frozen the publication
of this book.

The
Calicivirus disease being developed to reduce the rabbit population,
has escaped from quarantine station and is spreading throughout
Australia

Three
member Newcastle rock band silverchair tops the US charts with
their song Tomorrow

The
Pope comes to Australia for the beatification of Mother Mary
McKillop who was the founder of the Josephite order

The
Labor Party was defeated in the March election

Liberal
National Party coalition become the government and John Howard
is the Prime Minister

Australian
football supporters celebrate the 100th Australian Football
League season

Australias
most popular tourist attraction became a killing field on 29th
April as Martin Bryant, who shot dead 35 people, went on a shooting
rampage

The
Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Australian Social
Trends, including studies of family life, work, education, housing
and health. It reported that most Australians are living the
Australian dream of a home in the suburbs, kids, a car and annual
holidays

From
a site near Kununara, Northern Territory, there is new evidence
that people were in Australia more than 100,000 years earlier
than first thought

$1.25
billion Natural Heritage Trust established to oversee the conservation
of the Australian environment

Pauline
Hanson, an independent for the extreme right, becomes member
of parliament for the Queensland seat of Oxley

High
Court determines the Wik case

Research
scientist professor Peter Doherty, whose research into immunology
facilitated the treatment of cancer and diabetes, becomes the
6th Australian to receive the Nobel Prize

Bob
Dent becomes first Australian to request to die under the recently
passed Euthanasia laws in the Northern Territory. The Federal
Government subsequently passed a law overriding the Northern
Territory Act

Sir
Hubert Opperman one of Australias greatest sporting heroes
dies at the age of 91. He will be remembered for his cycling
feats

200
million year old fossil , a 2 metre long Temnospondyl has been
found near Gosford

Environment
Minister Robert Hill, brokers a deal at the Climate Change conference
in Kyoto, Japan to allow Australia to increase the limit on
greenhouse emissions

The
English yatchsman Tony Bullimore is rescued from his capsized
yacht in the Southern Ocean

Geoffrey
Rush is awarded Best Actor at the Academy Awards for his portrayal
of David Helfgott in the movie Shine

Susie
Moroney becomes the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida
unassisted in just over 24 hours

Pauline
Hanson, Independent Federal MP launches the One Nation Party

Professor
Peter Doherty, Nobel Prize winner becomes Australian of the
Year

The
Australian Cricket team has scored their 5th consecutive Ashes
win against England

Cathy
Freeman is the first Australian to win a title at the World
Athletics championship

Patrick
Rafter defeats Greg Rudeski to win the US Open

Michael
Hutchance, 37 years old and formerly of INXS, is found dead
in a Double Bay hotel

John
Howards Liberal and national Party coalition are re-elected

Mark
Taylor named Australian on the Year

Constitutional
convention held at Old parliament House recommends that Australia
become a republic. One hundred and fifty delegates voted to
replace the Queen as head of state with a president to be chosen
by parliament

Andrew
Thomas becomes Australias first astronaut to fly on the
space shuttle, Endeavour to the Mir space station where he spent
a month working with an international crew

Australias
waterfront is crippled by anti-government action, the most violent
action was between Maritime Union of Australia and Patrick Stevedoring

Commonwealth
Government proclaims a Marine park in the Great Australian Bight
under the National Parks and Wildlife Act

$51
million has been given to the Clean Seas program to help establish
the reduction of pollution of Australias seas, bays and
rivers from stormwater and sewage run off

General
Motors Holden celebrates 50 years of car making in Australia

Alan
Ridgeway becomes the 1st Aboriginal from NSW and second in Australia
to enter Federal Parliament

1st
Sorry day held as the national conscience finds a way of expressing
feelings for the hurt done in the past to Aborigines

Wik
Bill is passed and set the groundwork for Aboriginal land Rights

Sydney
water crisis lasts for weeks as contamination of the Sydney
water supply, initiates a major health alert

6
yachtsmen are dead and 55 winched to safety as a wild storm
hits the Sydney to Hobart yacht race

Native
Title Amendment Bill is passed

The
life of Peter Allen is made into a musical, The Boy from Oz,
and set the one day box office record for sale of tickets, selling
over 9,500

Mum
Shirl, commonly known as the Black Saint of Redfern dies at
age 74

Rock
group, Savage garden make number 1 in the US charts with their
single, Truly,Madly, Deeply

Australian
Womens hockey team win World Cup in Netherlands

19%
of Australian households are connected to the Internet

Australia
was the dominant country at the 16th Commonwealth games in Kuala
Lumpur, 198 medals, 80 gold

50th
anniversary of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme

Australian
peacemakers leave for East Timor

Arthur
Boyd, the painter of light dies

Morris
West well respected author dies

Albert
Tucker the artist who excelled at reflecting the cruelty of
humanity, dies at age 84

Alice
Springs to Darwin railway to be built, effectively linking the
southern Ocean and the Timor Sea

Uranium
mining commences at Jabiluka in the Kakadu National Park

Ultra
marathon runner, Pat Farmer, completes a 14,500 km around Australia
run in 191 day to highlight the anniversary of the Centenary
of Federation celebrations

Eighteen
year old, Jesse Martin, sails into Melbourne after a 50,000
km to become the youngest, solo, unassisted person to make it
around the world

The
No vote wins in the referendum on the Australian
republic

Australia
hosts the "best ever" Olympic Games

Australian
of the Year awarded to Sir Gustav Nossal for his contribution
to medicine

YK2
disaster unrealised as the change to the new millennium has
happened and no major disasters have been reported

S11
protests at the World Economic Forum's meeting in Melbourne

Unemployment
rate hits 10 year low of 6.6%

Cyclone
Steve devastated large areas of the Northern Territory

The
Weather Bureau confirms that the 1990's was the wettest decade
of the century

15
backpackers died in a deliberately lit fire in a youth hostel
in Childers, Queensland

Australian
Armed Forces led the United nations INTERFET forces in keeping
peace in East Timor

Three
Park Rangers lose their lives in a bush burn off at Hornsby
in northern Sydney

The
Howard Government introduces the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
as part of their tax reform program

The
first successful cloning of an animal in Australia with the
production of Suzi the calf in Melbourne

Nova
Peris-Kneebone who was the first Aboriginal to win an Olympic
gold medal became the first Australian to carry the Olympic
torch in Australia at Uluru

Karrie
Webb the world's Number 1 women's golfer has picked up more
trophies in one year than any other Australian women's golfer

The
falling of snow for the first time on a rugby match ensured
it was a history making event. It happened in Canberra and the
match was between Balmain and Canberra